An Overview of the Iraq War: an Obscure Ambition?

The Iraq War began on March, 20th 2003. It was led by the U.S. which was allied by the UK and Australia. The Iraq war began, because the U.S. specifically the Bush administration believed that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, which turned out to later be untrue. The U.S. and allies staged a surprise attack on Iraq and swept into the country, without declaring war. It was possible to go to war, because of a loophole saying that the U.S. could stage a preemptive strike. The unprepared Iraqi military forces were overwhelmed and the U.S. went through the country.

The invasion led to the collapse of the Ba’athist government and Saddam Hussein was later executed for his brutal 24 years in power. Over the course of the eight year long war, over 135,000 Iraqi civilians were killed and only about 4,400 american soldiers were killed. In total the U.S. spent 845 billion and the UK spent nine billion. Ultimately the war had caused only havoc and had no clear objective.

Political Leaders or President and Key players

Current Leader of Iraq: Haider al-Abadi

US leader during the Iraq War: George W. Bush served from January 20th, 2001-January 20th 2009

George W. Bush was the 43rd President of the United States. He was born on July 6th, 1946 in New Haven Connecticut and raised in Texas. He is the son of George H.W. Bush who was a US senator. He received an undergraduate degree from Yale and later an MBA from Harvard. After receiving his degree in 1968, he enlisted himself in the Texas National Guard and was discharged in 1974. After realizing he wasn’t fit for the oil industry, he followed in his fathers footsteps and went into politics. In 1977, he met Laura Welch at a barbeque and three months later they were wed. He unsuccessfully ran for the House of Representatives that year. To his family’s became the Governor of Texas from 1995-2000. Later that year he ran for President, he won by a very miniscule amount which became controversial. Eight Months into his presidency, the 9/11 attacks took place. In 2001, he started a military campaign called the War on Terror, which resulted in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. He was in office from January 20th, 2001 through January 20th, 2009. He promoted policies such as, no same-sex marriage, the No child Left Behind Act, the Patriot Act, and tax cuts. He is still alive today and actively participates in political debates and talks.

Saddam Hussein was the fifth president of Iraq. He was born on April 28, 1937, in Tikrit, Iraq. When Saddam was born his father disappeared. Then a few months later his older brother died of cancer. These were very pressing times for Saddam. When he got older he got involved with political groups and got enjoyed politics. He became really successful and later when he was 42, he was elected President of Iraq and served for more than two decades. While leading Iraq he was a very brutal leader. He killed anyone that got in his path or threatened him. The US began the Iraq war with a preemptive strike and staged a surprize attack. Saddam managed to evade the US for nearly one year, he was found in a hole near Tikrit. In a military court he was convicted for being an unjust leader for his 24 years as president. On December 30, 2006 at Camp Justice, an Iraqi base, Saddam was hanged. He was buried at his birthplace in Al-Awja on December 31.